Pope to Filipinos: We need holy young people

MANILA, Philippines - Pope Francis on Sunday delivered another impromptu message in Spanish, this time to young people, whom he urged to aim for holiness.

Speaking before thousands at the University of Santo Tomas, the pope said young people should use the deluge of information they encounter to love God and other people.

"We have so much information ... [Young people] risk becoming museums who have everything but don't know what to do with them," he said, as subsequently translated by Msgr. Mark Gerard Miles.

"We don't need youth museums but we do need holy young people," the Holy Father added.

He said that being as holy as saints is a task of love, which he called the "most important" thing to learn.

"You might ask me, 'Father, how do we become saints?' It's a challenge, it's a challenge of love, which is the most important subject you have to learn in the university, the most important subject to learn in life," he explained.

He said that information consumed through technology should be reflected on and acted upon.

"To think, feel and put into effect. Let that information enter your heart," the pope said.

"To think, to feel and to do," he added, repeating the phrase thrice.

Pope Francis will leave Manila for Rome on Monday after spending three full days in the Philippines, causing what the public has dubbed as "Francis effect."

The pope's trips around the capital and areas of Leyte were marked by streets crowded by well-wishers and pilgrims, who are sometimes moved to tears upon seeing the Catholic leader.